Monday, July 27, 2009

American Thinker: Impersonating a Victim: "We have now all heard the verbal abuse Gates hurled at the officer -- who was called to protect his property. Gates theatrical reaction to the situation: 'This is what happens to a black man in America!' What? Returning to your posh residence from your trip to China and having a neighbor look out for you by reporting suspicious behavior in your upper-crusty neighborhood and having a white public servant come check on your place for you -- is that what 'happens' to you in America, Dr. Gates? Swing low sweet chariot."

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

davidwarrenonline.com - ESSAYS ON OUR TIMES: "The outrage expressed, today, at the very existence of Sarah Palin, not only by progressive Democrats but by urbane 'establishment' Republicans, is in many ways the product of this shift. Increasingly, I find, people on the left simply cannot accept any right-wing view as legitimate. The mere fact it can be so labelled puts it beyond the pale."

Mayor Robert Schwab said retail space is at a premium in the city of about 6,000, so when Walmart announced it was building a new supercenter in town, community leaders were hopeful the old facility could be turned into new retail space.

Instead, Walmart sold the 50,000-square-foot building to the Carlinville Southern Baptist Church in 2007.

'Nothing against churches, but the city loses, the county loses and the school district loses sales tax and property tax as a source of revenue,' the mayor said.

'It was probably the largest building available in probably the whole county,' Schwab said. 'There was a lot of interest in it but Walmart found a willing buyer that gave them no competition at all.'"

Great stuff! On down in the lineup was a 1932? Model B Ford. It's the one with the red and black pleated upholstery. The thing didn't say itwas a '32, or a model B, but I know my 32 model Bs.

My great aunt Emma had one, but it was faded greenish and didn't shine very much. Joanne and I--can't remember if Linda was old enough to go to school at the time--would ride with her to school as she lived right across the driveway from us and was the teacher, janitor, playground supervisor and lunchroom monitor all in one. She had six grades in six rows of increasingly larger school desks all in one room, talk about your cutting the costs of education!

Anyway the old model B was already ancient in 1947. I can recall that the floorboards were kind of partly there and the exhause would leak up into the car. The old faithful four cylinder L-head made some kinda noise, especially when we went up Glade Creek hill after a rain. The wet red clay was as slick as anything and sometimes she would get out of the ruts and we would go up the hill, peddle to the metal literally, at quite a crab angle. We never got stuck as I recall. Shefinally drove the the B Model to Big Sandy and traded it for a brand new 1951 Plymouth 4-door. She took me with her at age 14 to drive the new car back home because she did not know how to shift the H-pattern on the steering column. You see, the B Model had four in the floor.

I think I might have had a license, I'm not sure. Maybe it was a learner's permit. I remember going to the courthouse and talking to a judge who arranged for me a hardship license because we were farmers and I needed to be able to "drive the produce to market". However, I do remember taking my driving test in Andrews, in the High School's car, a vacuum shift Chevrolet coupe. It might have been my second test. We had moved to Andrews by 1951, probably shortly after Emma bought her Plymouth. U. E. Davis, aunt Marcel's brother had the Desoto-Plymouth dealership in Big Sandy and dad traded our Dodge pickup for a new blue '51 Plymouth Crandbrook which we rode in to Fullerton (Andrews county), Texas whereupon he was the minister of the church of Christ there for two years.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Here is a story.VOA News - Obama Ends Ghana Visit: "U.S. President Barack Obama says Africans must take more responsibility for wiping out poverty, war and disease on the continent. In a speech to the Ghanaian parliament, the president said we need - what he described as - a new moment of great progress."